Written in Tears: Grieving Father’s Journey Through Psalm 103

Resource Description

Full Review:

I highly recommend this small book written by my friend and former missionary colleague, Luke Veldt. Luke and his wife Jodi experienced something most of us would never dream of happening: in 2006 on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Pamplona, Spain, where they serve as church planters, suddenly their beloved thirteen year old daughter Allison succumbed to a massive brain hemorrhage.

It’s a book I could never have written, not only because I’ve never experienced anything like this, but because I’m not Luke Veldt. Luke is a sensitive, deep-thinking, witty, creative man who’s skilled with the written word. In Written in Tears Luke pours out his heart revealing some of his inner most thoughts and struggles in the months and years after Allison’s death. At times Luke expresses great spiritual doubts, yet he never totally loses sight of the anchor of his faith in God and God’s Word.

For months Luke read Psalm 103 once a day to the point that this chapter became part of him. Written in Tears is partially what God taught him through his experiences and through meditation on this great Psalm.  Though Luke would be the first one to say he still tremendously misses his dear daughter, he learned so much about God, the nature of suffering, and himself through this incredibly difficult experience.

I think this book will help us in many ways, not the least of which is how to minister to those who are deeply hurting. How easy it is for us to make glib comments to these people or spout Bible verses and or biblical truths that may be true, but not helpful in the situation and at times just plain hurtful.

My prayer is that this book will help me become a more sensitive minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My prayer for Luke and Jodi is that God will continue to bring healing to them and to their whole family and that He will keep using their difficult experiences to help many other people. … And by the way, I hope this isn’t the last time we’ll see the name “Luke Veldt” under a book title.